Takane no Hana
by xXPrincessMXx
Summary: She is our takane no hana, our flower on a high peak: her beauty out of reach for everyone, so everyone admires from a distance as close as they can get. Those things never mattered to him anyway. [Roxiri]
1. From a distance

_**Takane no hana  
**_ _'Flower on a high peak'_

 _Summary:_  
She is our takane no hana, our flower on a high peak: her beauty out of reach for everyone, so every admires her from a distance... as close as they can get. Those things never mattered to him anyway. [Roxiri]  
\- loosely based on the manga hibi chouchou -

 **Part One  
** _From a distance_

 _I don't want to be a flower as a flower is motionless, forever stuck at the same place, unable to move._

 _I want to be a butterfly, flying to wherever he is._

-x-

He glanced at the trees marking the path up to the school.

It was still Summertime, they had all blossomed and the pinkish petals were spreading everywhere.

The sky looked rather promising; it would be a great day today. Weather-wise, at least.

Just as he reached the school gates, he felt an arm swing around his shoulder, dragging him down somewhat.

"Good morning!" the familiar brown haired guy keeping him in a headlock said with his trademark grin fixed in place. "Had a nice Summer?"

"Hey, Sora," he greeted his friend. "It was good. Yours?"

"Man, you wouldn't believe what I did this Summer," Sora started, his arm still tight around his friend's neck as they slowly progressed towards the school. He hadn't seen his friend in a while, which was the only reason why he allowed this headlock. "It's been wild!"

As they neared the entrance, the noise around them grew.

Sora was in the middle of the story about him camping alone with his brother Vanitas in the woods when the excited chatter grew too loud to actually hear his story.

"What's all this ruckus about?" Sora said, letting go of him as the guy stood on his toes to see what was going on, the tip of his tongue visible as he tried to go up even higher than his toes would allow him to. "I can't see-"

"Beats me," he said rather indifferently, stuffing his hands in his pockets, waiting for the mass to separate again.

They were lucky they had arrived so early; at this rate, they would've been late otherwise.

"It's the new first years," Sora said, rather baffled. "Did they cause trouble or- _Oh_."

"What?"

Sora lowered himself down on his heels and grinned widely. "There's a _really_ cute girl among them."

"Oh," he said, rather irritated that they were being held up because of such an insignificant little thing. "Is that all?"

"Apparently," Sora said, a bit stung that his friend wasn't even slightly interested in this news. "She _is_ really pretty."

He rolled his eyes at that remark and tried to move past the mass (which consisted mostly of guys, he now realized). "Were you going to join any clubs this year?" he said, calling to his friend over the loud noise of people chattering.

Sora squeezed himself through a group of awestruck girls. "Haven't really thought about it… have you?"

"I thought about the sword fighting club, for a change," he said, rubbing the back of his neck as Sora had finally gotten through the mass as well.

"It would suit you," Sora said, imitating a battle pose that seemed base on a weird kind of anime as he let out a strange phrase that definitely came straight from the same anime too. He didn't get it, but thought it was kind of funny either way.

"Yeah, well," he said, chuckling slightly at Sora's antics. "I thought it seemed cool. Cooler than the chess club, at least."

"You were acing that one too," Sora said, now sounding a bit disgruntled. "Do you have to be the absolute best in everything?"

"I just don't like losing," he said with a shrug. "Which makes winning a lot more interesting."

"If you look at it that way," Sora said vaguely. "Maybe I'll join the club too."

He gave his friend a little bump against the arm with his fist. "Sweet. So you're going to be my sparring partner, then?"

A look of dread crossed Sora's face. "Do I want that?" he asked, his voice a bit squeaky. "I mean, will I survive that?"

"Don't be silly," he said. "You survive the weirdest things. Besides, Vanitas is your brother, so I don't see why you're complaining."

"I really should look for a less violent environment," Sora breathed out as he shook his head. "It'll cost me my head one of these days otherwise."

-x-

School had been the same as last year, so far.

Even though the faces and the names changed during introduction rounds, the class usually had the same kind of people in it.

Even the material they had been given seemed the same.

As the bell rang, he and Sora came out of their classroom, on their way to the registration center to apply for the club they had been talking about earlier that morning.

He had just shoved all of the paperwork inside his bag and flung it over his shoulder as they walked when something sparked Sora's interest.

"Look, look, there she goes!" Sora said excitedly, pointing at the other end of the yard.

He turned, automatically, even though he had no interest in the girl that every guy seemed to fuss about.

Up until that point, he hadn't even seen her.

She seemed petite, her straight auburn hair surprisingly short for a girl. It just barely reached past her cheeks.

He couldn't see from this far away, but her expression seemed a bit off, almost as if she was a porcelain doll, her eyes trained on the ground as she walked through the crowds with a friend who glared angrily at all the guys surrounding them.

She was pretty, he had to admit that at the very least, but he really didn't see why it was causing so much uproar.

Besides, _she_ didn't seem too pleased either.

"Must be a pain," he wondered out loud. "She doesn't seem to enjoy the attention."

"Yeah," Sora said, craning his neck for a better look. "Even so, she must be used to this. They even call her 'takane no hana', flower on a high peak, they say."

He raised his brow at Sora, who shook his head. "Oh, you know, the whole: 'she's a gem to look at, but there's no way anyone can get her' thing. She doesn't speak or smile either, which makes it really hard to approach her in the first place, so I guess the name kind of fits."

He stopped for a bit to give his friend a disbelieving look. "Don't they have anything better to do?"

Sora flushed; he had clearly been part of the conversation that led to that name. "E-er… apparently so."

He smirked a bit at his friend's discomfort. "Come on, Sora, we have to register ourselves before we're too late. Let's leave your 'flower ideas' for what they are, for now, okay?"

"Y-yeah, you're right."

-x-

He had hoped for the first week to be over more quickly; it was still only Wednesday and he had had just three days of school yet.

Summer was still miles and miles away and at this rate, it would take forever before Summer Break started.

He swung his backpack over his shoulder as he made his way home.

Sora had taken extra lessons in maths on Wednesdays in advance to prevent the historic failing he did last year, so he would be heading home on his own today.

By the time he reached the gate, a flash of auburn caught his eye.

She was backed up against the wall surrounding the school, holding her bag protectively in front of her as she was cornered by a couple of guys he recognized as Xigbar, Vexen and Marluxia.

She didn't look that expressionless anymore; her brows were furrowed together and she was shaking a bit.

He stopped, almost automatically.

He couldn't hear what they were saying, but the situation seemed clear enough when Xigbar pulled at the girl's bag, ripping it in the progress, all of her things tumbling down on the floor.

She didn't open her mouth, though, but there was something about the distressed look on her face that made him turn completely and march towards the group of students instead of ignoring it and going home.

"Stop it."

He hadn't really thought that would be enough. He considered it both a warning and a greeting.

The three turned around to face him, a taunting expression forming on Xigbar's face, who recognized him. "Look who we've got here, it's little Kid-"

He really wasn't thinking straight, but for some reason, he didn't lack any accuracy in the placement of his fist.

Xigbar dropped to the floor upon the impact, holding his sore jaw. "What the hell?"

"Get lost," he said, clenching and unclenching his sore hand. He hadn't meant to use that much force. "Unless you want more, of course."

Xigbar got to his feet and gave him a glare. "Fine, we'll let you off this time. C'mon, guys," he added in a mutter to his friends, who seemed highly startled.

They gave him dirty looks as they walked off to the smoking area just beside the entrance of the school. He shook his head a bit before he turned to her.

"Sorry about that," he said to the girl, who was still frozen, her eyes wide as she stared at him.

He bent through his knees as he began to collect her things.

For a girl, it wasn't much, he noticed. There was just a plain notebook, a gray pencil case, a water bottle and an old-looking phone.

"There you go," he added, handing her her things.

As she didn't say anything, he remembered that Sora said this girl didn't speak.

She did, however, bow slightly before glancing up at him again.

Her eyes were a stunning indigo colour, lighting up in her face. He cleared his throat. "Ah, right," he muttered distractedly.

He wasn't necessarily good around girls and now that he had no reason to be here anymore, he'd rather go home. There wasn't much else to say, was there? "Well, see you around, I guess."

She gave another nod and he quickly brushed past her.

For some reason, his face felt rather hot.

He touched his cheek with the back of his right hand and he could feel his skin burn.

There had been something unnerving about the way she had looked at him.

Most girls averted their gaze after a while, but she had been staring straight back at him for the longest time.

Maybe that was her tactic for getting rid of the noisy people, he thought to himself. Even so, he wasn't quite sure how that would work.

He was sure Sora, for example, wouldn't mind staring straight back at the girl.

Maybe if he had been more like Sora, he wouldn't have minded either.

Well, he thought to himself with a shrug, straightening his back. He wasn't Sora, he had helped the girl out and he would probably never cross her path again.

That was all there was to it.

-x-

"- I mean, I did try," Sora complained loudly the next day, folding his arms behind his head as he concluded the self-pity-induced story of how he failed his literature test.

School had just started and Sora was already on a roll.

He decided not to laugh as they were on their way to their next lesson.

"It's just that the old geezers write so boringly, am I right? I said that too, I said- Oh. Hi there," Sora added as he glanced over his shoulder.

He turned too and with a jolt in his stomach, recognized the auburn haired girl.

She had become the porcelain doll again, her expression as neutral as could be.

Even so, her bright indigo eyes seemed warm. He felt slightly flustered and he didn't understand what she was doing here.

"Can we help you?" Sora asked her kindly, immediately taking initiative in the (what would be one-sided) conversation.

He was slightly impressed that Sora tried nevertheless.

Even though Sora was the one talking to her, she was slightly turned to him, her gaze on his face; he could feel it heat him up, his heartbeat picking up as he started to sweat slightly.

Then, it struck him that she might be in trouble again.

He didn't see her friend with her which supported that theory, but she didn't carry that distressed look, which didn't make much sense.

"Are you all right?" he asked her, just in case she was in trouble.

She nodded, tilting her head to the side.

Sora gave him a confused look.

Right, he hadn't told Sora about yesterday's incident either.

Just when he was about to explain it rather briefly, her friend turned around the corner.

"Kairi! There you are!" she said, rushing up to her friend's side, who acknowledged her with a nod.

The newcomer straightened herself, throwing her brown curls over her shoulder, her face a bit red because of all the running she had apparently done. "You're the one who helped out yesterday?"

He nodded wordlessly, almost mimicking the silent girl.

He wondered how the girl would know, if … Kairi (that was her name, apparently) hadn't told her. If she had been watching, wouldn't she have come to help one way or another?

"Thank you," the girl said wholeheartedly. "I couldn't come home with her yesterday and I'm glad you helped out. My name's Olette by the way. I'm sure you know Kairi," she added, her voice a bit colder.

He realised she must've thought he was like the other guys, swarming around the auburn haired girl.

He felt slightly insulted, for some reason. "We haven't exactly introduced ourselves," he set that picture straight at once. "She was in trouble and I helped, that's all."

"But he's Roxas and I'm Sora, by the way," Sora quickly added, afraid he might be left out of the conversation, even if he had no clue what they were talking about. In his voice was a hint of eagerness; of course he would want to introduce himself to the girl everyone was talking about.

"Right," Olette said, smiling slightly. "Thanks again. Come on, Kairi, let's go to class."

Kairi nodded, though she looked back over her shoulder at him.

At least, he was fairly sure she was looking back at him.

His face felt extremely hot again and now it was even worse because Sora was standing right next to him.

"Dude, you know 'takane no hana'?"

Now that he had learned her name, the nickname annoyed him. "Her name's Kairi."

"Cut the bullshit, Roxas! Where the hell did you meet her?"

"She was being cornered by Xigbar and those others," he said curtly as he picked up his pace. "I stepped in to help her out, that was all. I went home straight afterwards."

Sora was now running slightly to keep up with him. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

"Was there any need to do that?"

"Roxas! We're talking about the 'takene no hana' here!"

"It's Kairi," he said, gritting his teeth. "Look here, Sora, that stupid name is exactly why she's being bothered all the time."

"It's just a nickname," Sora said softly. "I mean no harm with it."

"Then don't say it," he said, still greatly annoyed.

"I thought you had no interest in her, though," Sora said, giving him an inquisitive look.

"I felt sorry for her, that's all," he said. "That's the end of it."

They had reached their classroom and they silently went to their seats.

When they were settled down, however, Sora turned backwards to look at him. "That was a good call, though. To help her."

"Glad to hear you think so too. Now look in front of you, teacher's coming," he added firmly as the door of the classroom opened.

Sora quickly turned back, much to his relief.

After all, he was still feeling rather flustered.

Why had she bothered to find him? He didn't need an explicit thanks from her, after all, especially if she couldn't give it.

Why was he getting so worked up about this?

-x-

He sighed in annoyance as he opened his locker and his P.E. clothes weren't there.

He wasn't afraid of Xigbar, Vexen and Marluxia, but he would have to get his stuff back before the P.E. lesson would start and that was just kind of annoying to him.

What a childish bunch of cowards. To think they were a year older.

Just as he closed his locker, he felt a soft tug at the fabric of his shirt on the back.

He turned, a bit surprised.

Sora would usually be much less subtle about making his presence known and there weren't many others who wanted his attention usually.

She was standing there, folding her arms behind her back as soon as he turned.

Again, her eyes seemed to do the talking, but sadly enough, he wasn't fluent in that language.

"Er… hi," he offered, to which she gave a soft nod. He waited for a bit, but of course, she didn't say anything.

Rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, he decided it was best to go find Xigbar and his friends to get his P.E. stuff back.

When he gave her a small nod as a goodbye, however, she reached out and grabbed his sleeve.

He was really confused. What did she want from him? Couldn't she write it down on a piece of paper or enlighten him in any other way? How in the world did she communicate with that Olette girl if she didn't?

Then, he realised she seemed rather… concerned.

Even though she didn't speak, the way her head was tilted, her brow slightly furrowed as she looked up at him, it seemed clear that she wanted to express worry.

Or she was upset that he was about to turn his back to her, but he felt like the first would make more sense. Usually, she would prefer a guy to turn his back to her, right?

"You're worried?" he asked nevertheless, just to be sure. She gave a gentle nod as she let him go.

"You don't have to be worried about me," he said to her, afraid Sora might appear anytime now, or any other guy that would make a big deal about him speaking to her. "Just take care of yourself, all right?"

Her expression went neutral so fast it startled him slightly.

He didn't have time to think about what happened, because the bell rang and he still hadn't collected his clothes yet.

He didn't turn to glance over his shoulder, but he could feel her stare on his back.

She really was an odd one.

-x-

"Why am I the only one who's serious here!" he called out to his lousy teammates. "Get your act together!"

"But we're on a trip," one of them complained. "This is just for fun."

"Don't make him mad," Sora advised him. "This is not just for fun, this is a case of life and death, you know."

"Shut up," he grumbled, turning back to the other team. "Don't exaggerate things either."

They were indeed out on a school trip with a couple of classes to one of the nearest beaches as the temperature was still rather mild.

Since the area for beach volleyball was empty, they decided on a whim to play a match.

His team consisted of some of the sportive guys from the second year, including Sora and himself.

The other team were a few first years who really wanted to take down their seniors.

It was just that his team lacked motivation and he needed them for the victory too.

What a drag. He wanted to focus, because otherwise he would start to be nervous.

The fact that there were first years around unnerved him quite a bit, because he had this feeling _she_ 'd be here too.

She'd always pop up like that, when he was not expecting her to.

Even though she never said anything, he felt strangely defenseless.

He shook his head, focussing back on the game.

Tidus, a friend of Sora, was standing in the back of the field and saved the ball, sending it flying to Sora, who passed it to him.

He got up to the net and smashed the ball back to the other team.

He was quick to realise he had put too much strength into the move, because he heard a couple of gasps and he made eye contact with a very startled looking auburn haired girl, who tentatively touched the side of her face, the ball laying forgotten next to her.

"He hit Takane!" he heard Tidus gasp behind him, who was clearly unaware of her real name and thought her nickname was the real one. "Damn, Roxas!"

The guys from the first year immediately swarmed around her and he couldn't see her anymore.

He rubbed the back of his neck. He really hadn't meant to hit her straight in the head and felt uneasy not being able to apologize.

"Well, seems like we won't be playing anymore for a while," Sora said, scratching the side of his face. "Looks like you finished it, Roxas."

"Yeah, thanks," he muttered, feeling rather guilty.

The teachers rang a small bell to let them know it was lunchtime.

He felt relieved as the mass of students got up to the tables, searching for the auburn haired girl.

If he could find the chance to do so, he did want to apologize, after all.

Even so, he couldn't find her, neither at the other side of the net, nor at the lunch tables.

He did, however, notice the brown curls of her friend Olette.

She was walking casually up to the lunch tables and nodded at him before gesturing over her shoulder.

He narrowed his eyes as he stared into the direction she had pointed at, to see a familiar flash of almost red in this bright light.

"Thanks," he mouthed at Olette, who simply shrugged, picking up his pace as he walked over to the sea.

The closer he came to her, the less noise he could hear from the other students.

She was sitting near the waves, letting them gently wash over her feet.

She seemed to be deep in thought as he neared her.

He felt another pang of guilt in his stomach as he saw the reddish bruise on her cheek.

"Hey," he finally said as he stood next to her.

He had startled her; she turned to him at once, her indigo eyes wide.

She quickly gave him a small nod as a form of greeting. He couldn't help but smile a little at that. "How's your head? Does it hurt?"

She seemed to think about if for a while before shaking her head. She was obviously lying, but he appreciated her attempt to make him feel better.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hit you in the head," he said. "Sorry."

She got to her feet, shaking off the sand of her legs. Now that he had apologized, he started to feel nervous.

She didn't have to stand up either.

"Well, then," he said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'll leave you be; they're expecting me to be back for the ending of the game, I-I think."

She gave another nod and he turned at once.

He found her indigo gaze quite intense and it made him feel strangely vulnerable.

He was about to walk back to the field; he could already see Sora looking around for him.

"Roxas."

 _She doesn't speak or smile either, which makes it really hard to approach her in the first place._

He froze up, turning back very slowly. She was looking at him, her head tilted slightly.

"Yes?" he said quietly. He couldn't have misheard, there was no one else here and though the voice had been soft, it had been as clear as the sound of the waves.

"Good luck," she continued, he could see her pink lips moving before her face warmed up and the same lips curled up in a smile.

 _She doesn't speak or smile either, which makes it really hard to approach her in the first place._

His blush must've covered every inch of his body, all the way down to his toes. "Thanks," he said, giving her a small nod as he ran off as if his life depended on it.

His heart was beating in his head, he could feel the thumping rhythm as her voice kept ringing through his head.

Why had she spoken to him? Why had she smiled? Why had she wished him 'good luck', of all things?

Why, oh, _why_ was he so flustered? He patted his cheeks in a desperate attempt to clear his head.

Nothing happened, he told himself sternly. Nothing to be embarrassed about.

"There you are!" Sora said impatiently. "Where the hell were you?"

Everyone was already back on the field, the other party tossing around the ball for a bit.

He cleared his throat, afraid his voice had stopped working. "I… I was just… taking a walk around."

"A walk?" Sora said incredulously, studying his friend's face. "You look like you've run a marathon. Are you all right?"

"Sunburn," he lied. She had gotten back, too, sitting down next to Olette. Their eyes met once more.

 _Good luck._

He averted his gaze. He needed to focus. It was easier than expected. He was pretty competitive in nature, but for some reason, his drive to win seemed a bit bigger than last time he stood here.

As they scored the first point of the second set, after Sora had given him a high five, he suddenly understood as he met her gaze again.

He understood the point of her wishing him 'good luck'.

 _Why_ she was doing it, he had no clue, but she was… somehow _cheering_ for him. She was doing it again, a smile breaking through the porcelain doll expression that unnerved him so much, making her look so much more real as his heart started to beat a little faster.

Sora caught him staring, though. "What are you-"

He also realised didn't want Sora to see, not yet; in an instinctual movement, he swung his arm around Sora's neck and took him in a headlock so he couldn't look up and see her smile.

He wanted to keep that smile to himself for a while.

It was exactly the reason why he needed to win here, too.

Still, he didn't understand why all of this was happening, or how, but it was happening and it was making him happy, somehow. That was all he needed to know for now.

" _Ouch_! What are you doing that for?!"

"No reason," he said, strangely cheerful as he let go of Sora. Sora glanced up at the girl, whose expression could have matched a porcelain doll again.

"Were you looking at Takane- uh, Kairi?"

"No."

"There's no shame in it, though. Everyone-"

"I _said_ , I did _not_ look at her."

-x-

It had kept him up at night.

The girl who didn't speak or smile had just done both things.

 _Why_?

Maybe he was mistaken, maybe she was just really quiet and shy, maybe that was it.

There was no other way to find out than to ask Sora, who seemed to know a lot about the general knowledge of Kairi.

He wasn't particularly looking forward to asking, though, since Sora would be suspicious again or talk about her for ages, neither of which he wanted to achieve.

The girl was already so much on his mind that he wanted a break for once.

He wasn't even safe in his own dreams anymore. She really turned up everywhere he went, it was insane.

"So, uh," he said, finally having mustered the courage to ask Sora the week after the schooltrip during their lunchbreak. "Kairi really doesn't talk or smile, does she?"

"What a weird question," Sora said, rather moodily as he poked in his sandwich with a fork. "No, of course she doesn't. You've crossed her path before, right? She doesn't talk or smile, period."

"I know, I know," he said defensively. "But she surely must talk to friends, right?"

"Yeah, that Olette girl, probably," Sora said, sinking low against the wall he was sitting against. "But when you try to overhear their conversations, it's just Olette talking. I wonder whether she can talk at all. Kairi, I mean."

She could, he thought dryly to himself. Maybe it wasn't that weird that it kept coming back in his dreams. It seemed like he had seen, or rather heard in this case, an once in a lifetime thing. "I see."

"Man," Sora sighed, folding his arms behind his head. "You know, even if she doesn't say anything, I'd still date her. She's too cute."

He glanced up at the sky, when he noticed a small, auburn spot on the rooftop.

He froze up a little, narrowing his eyes to get a better look.

It really was her, again. See, she really was everywhere!

She was standing on the rooftop, leaning over the railing. He wondered what she was looking at. He didn't see anything in particular that could've caught her interest here.

"Seriously, though," Sora said to him. "You don't think she's pretty?"

"I never said that she wasn't," he said, looking away to hide a new rush of redness to his face.

"That's what I thought," Sora said, sounding rather satisfied. "There's no way you couldn't at least see that, right?"

"Right," he muttered. He had to snap out of this, whatever it was.

Hadn't he disliked all the guys obsessing over her in the first place?

He took a deep breath, trying to clear his head. "Right."

-x-

He hadn't seen her around after lunchbreak anymore. He was partially relieved, partially disappointed.

School was over, that was a good thing, at the very least.

He and Sora were on their way to practice and he was trying to listen to Sora, though he felt highly distracted.

"There you two are," a girl's voice came from behind them.

They turned around and recognized Olette and, _why wouldn't she_ , Kairi behind them.

Kairi was hiding a bit behind Olette, though, her eyes trained on the ground, which he found rather strange.

Usually, she always met his gaze right away.

Just when he found himself wishing she'd look up and almost regretting those times when he turned away voluntarily, she did look up momentarily.

She gave him a slight nod of acknowledgement before looking back at the ground again, though he felt strangely relieved that she had greeted him at least. This was really getting out of hand and he didn't understand why.

He had missed the entire conversation, too. If he had, he might've been able to stop it before it escalated. He was too late now.

"Oh, sure," Sora said excitedly. "We can do that for the both of you."

"Wait, what?" he said, a bit alarmed.

"Don't be daft, Rox," Sora said easily. "Don't worry about it, Olette and… Kairi," he added, a bit shyly. "We'll get this done and meet you on the rooftop."

"Thanks!" Olette said, before walking away and dragging Kairi with her.

"Rooftop?" he said, his voice an octave higher than normal. "What the hell are we doing on the _rooftop_?!"

"Geez, just listen for once then! Don't worry, they just asked us to get them some drinks from the canteen," Sora said in a hushed tone. "They can't do it because Kairi's Takane."

He bit his tongue; it wouldn't help him now either way.

He didn't speak again for the entirety of practice.

As he was deflecting blows, he found he couldn't focus.

He kept thinking of the auburn haired girl and couldn't get her out of his head.

She had spoken to him. She had smiled at him. She kept greeting him. Now this. Why? This couldn't be gratefulness anymore, could it?

If it was, he had to tell her to stop feeling indebted, she was just overwhelming him with… what was this, even?

"Ouch!"

Sora knocked reality back into him again as he was too spaced out to dodge. "Stop spacing out!"

"I'm sorry!" he said, rubbing his sore forehead. This was the third time already. He had to focus. Focus!

As they went back into the changing rooms, he could feel his helplessness and frustration turn around to an incredibly cranky mood.

As he moodily followed Sora to the canteen, he couldn't believe he got beaten in practice, he couldn't believe he was going to have to face that strange girl again and even hang out with her, apparently.

He couldn't believe Sora would do this to him.

As he glanced at the gleeful expression on his friend's face, he sighed.

Sora didn't know. Sora had absolutely no idea of the strange tingles in his stomach every time she caught his eye.

That eased his bad mood just slightly, but he was still pissed off as they headed to the roof.

It was all her fault, then.

She popped up in his head again, with that smile, and he couldn't be mad at her either.

Then it had to be that Olette girl, with whatever weird scheme she was planning.

In his defense, Kairi hadn't seemed at ease with it either, so it had been an awful request.

They finally took the stairs to the roof, opening the door to the small area on top of the school, surrounded by a railing.

The two of them had laid out a blanket, enjoying the warmth of the sun in silence.

He had to admit that this was a pretty cool place to enjoy the last bit of sunlight in Autumn.

Nevertheless, he hadn't forgiven Olette for her stupid request yet.

"Oh, thank you so much," the girl said easily, beaming at Sora. "I'm glad you two could make it. Do you want to hang out together now that you are here anyway?"

"Hell yeah!" Sora said at once, before he had the chance to open his mouth.

Kairi didn't protest, but he hadn't really expected her too.

Sighing, he sat down next to Sora, who had immediately claimed his spot next to Kairi. "So, you guys come up here every day?"

"Yeah," Olette said, much to his surprise.

It was a question that Kairi could've answered by nodding, after all, yet she didn't move.

Instead, she seemed rather flustered, her gaze trained on the blanket.

He was getting mad at Olette.

As her best friend, she should've known better than to invite _guys_ , of all people, to their 'secret' hideout.

Well, it was not as if Olette would listen to him. He might even achieve the exact opposite by making Kairi even more self-conscious.

As he glanced at the bright blue sky, he suddenly realized he could secretly find out what she was always looking at whenever she was leaning over the railing.

He shouldn't, though, he thought to himself as he glanced at the railing.

He shouldn't be so curious, but yet, here he was.

He wasn't planning to ever come up here again, so he might as well solve one piece of the puzzle, right?

He stood up, trusting Sora with the task of keeping up the conversation (with Olette, at least, because he could feel Kairi's gaze on the back of his head).

The view was much more limited than he thought it was. Most of the view was blocked by the other part of the building itself.

He froze up, though, because the only thing he could see was the small wall where Sora and he always met up for lunch.

His thoughts kept repeating the same patterns, but now with a new element.

She had spoken to him. She had smiled at him. She kept greeting him. She was watching him. Why was she doing this?

He didn't think it was a good idea to confront her here; he didn't want to make her feel even uneasier than she already did.

He clenched his hands around the railing, taking a deep breath.

Even though he was confused, he felt strangely happy, again, just like that time at the beach.

Somehow, he started to feel scared of that happiness. What did it mean?

"So, are you guys going to the Autumn Festival?" Olette asked.

She was talking about the festival that celebrated the end of Autumn.

It was a place where everyone got together to try out foods, test their luck on some games or just hang out until the night came.

Traditionally, there was a firework show at the end of that festival and the organization that organized the festival rarely cut down on their expenses for that show, so it was usually worth it to watch.

"Yeah," Sora said, rubbing the back of his neck, lacking his usual enthusiasm. "I have to go with my brother, though."

Ah, that explained the lack of enthusiasm. Usually Sora was rather stoked for these kinds of festivals. "I'm not going," he said with a shrug. "I don't really like festivals. Too many people."

"Are you two going?" Sora returned the question to the girls.

Olette shrugged. "Don't think so."

Sora chuckled. "Well, at least you might be able to check out the fireworks. I heard it's really going to be spectacular this year."

He was a bit glad she wouldn't be going.

At least he didn't have to worry about something happening to her there.

He was strangely relieved at that logical reason.

It made sense, especially in comparison to the other messy thoughts in his head.

 _See_ , there had to be a logical explanation for all of this.

That made him feel at ease, finally.

He was sure he could explain all the other things with logic too, if he really tried.

-x-

It was another Wednesday and he was about to head home on his own when the sky became darker and rain started to pour down onto his head.

"Shit," he cursed, holding his backpack over his head as he picked up his pace.

Raindrops started to fall down heavier and heavier as he turned the corner, leaving the school grounds behind him.

There she was, leaning against the outer wall, raindrops trickling from her hair.

She glanced up and her face lit up as she recognized him.

He acted again without thinking as he grabbed her wrist when he passed her, dragging her along with him.

She followed him, wordlessly, yet the sound of her breathing, her footsteps echoing off the pavement, her warm wrist in his hand, it felt reassuring to know she was there, right behind him.

He didn't stop until they reached a small temple where they could shelter from the rain for a bit.

"You okay?" he asked her, panting a bit.

She rested her back against the wall, her breathing heavy as well as she nodded at him.

He realized he was still holding her wrist, letting her go at once, as if he had been stung. "Sorry," he mumbled.

She gently shook her head, but he wasn't quite sure what she was responding to.

She turned to him, fidgeting a little, shifting her weight before finally glancing up at him.

He was about to ask her what she was getting nervous for when she extended a shaky hand. There was a small, folded piece of paper in her hand. Frowning rather confusedly, he took it over and folded it out.

There was one word written on it.

 _Fireworks_.

Fireworks? He tilted his head to the side as he glanced back at her.

He thought she wouldn't go… why had she changed her mind? More importantly, why did she specifically want him to know that?

"Do you… want to go with me?"

Again, he had not expected her to talk, especially since she had just given him a piece of paper.

He felt a bit uneasy as she knew he never went to that particular festival.

He lived rather close to the plaza, so he was able to hear and see the fireworks well enough from the attic anyway, so there never was a special reason for him to go.

For her, it seemed a bit odd that she wanted to go too.

She was already having a hard time at school dealing with the crowds.

If she wanted to go, why didn't she go with Olette? Why didn't she go with family members? Maybe they didn't want to go… then… should he go with her instead?

Would he go with her?

Was she a reason enough to leave his house that evening?

He realized he really couldn't reject her, even if she had asked him to go to Mars with her.

She was tensely waiting for his response, clenching and unclenching her hands to fists as she stared at the ground beneath her, her cheeks pink.

"Yeah, sure," he said, suddenly as red as her hair.

He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand.

What had he _done_? Sora would be there; most guys from their school would be there.

What if they found out he went with her? What if they started to bother her? Sure, he could fight off a couple of them, but all of them?

Then, however, she beamed at him and he could almost feel his resistance melt under the radiant smile that she seemed to reserve for him.

He felt almost lightheaded at the feeling.

Then, later, as the rain had reverted into a few drops and they went separate ways, he stopped in the middle of the road as realization slowly dawned on him.

Wait. _Wait_ …

Had he just agreed to… no, he _couldn't_ … had he… had he _really_ agreed to go on a date with her?

Was he going on a date with her?!

-x-


	2. So much closer

_**Takane no hana  
**_ _'Flower on a high peak'_

 _Summary:_  
She is our takane no hana, our flower on a high peak: her beauty out of reach for everyone, so every admires her from a distance... as close as they can get. Those things never mattered to him anyway. [Roxiri]  
\- loosely based on the manga hibi chouchou -

 **Part Two  
** _So much closer_

 _I don't want to be a flower as a flower is motionless, forever stuck at the same place, unable to move._

 _I want to be a butterfly, flying to wherever he is._

-x-

He fidgeted with his jacket.

Was he dressed too formally? His mother had asked why he was all dressed up, that should've said enough.

It was too late to go back now, was it? He didn't want her to get the wrong idea.

Well, to be fair, he had no idea what this was either.

He was waiting at the Clock Tower, wondering now whether that was an obvious meeting place.

This was a bad idea, everyone would notice.

Sora would maul him like an angry bear, if he survived the mass of the male first years first.

The small area in front of the Clock Tower was filling up to the brim with people meeting up to go down to the Town Plaza.

There were bound to be a couple of them here, too.

After all, she was hard to miss.

Even now, his gaze was pulled towards her as if she was the world's biggest magnet.

If she was unusually pretty during schooldays, she was absolutely stunning now.

She was wearing a white, slightly pinkish dress that seemed to flow around her legs as she moved, her hair shining in the lights of the lanterns, two strands loosely curled next to her face, her indigo eyes bright as she smiled at him.

For a second, he wondered whether he was dreaming. It really was her, though. He wasn't dreaming, after all.

She gave him a small nod, the smile fixed on her face.

He could feel something flutter in his stomach. "Hey. So… You… you wanna go?" he asked after clearing his throat to make sure his voice still worked.

She nodded again. He noticed some people were turning their heads to look at them. Her, mostly.

Instinctively, he reached forward, grabbing her hand.

She didn't protest. If anything, she became a little bit more pink in her face.

He walked a little bit slower than he usually would as she was wearing heels, the sound of her heels touching the pavement strangely reassuring behind him.

She seemed a bit self-conscious, glancing around nervously at the people staring at her.

He paused in front of a stall that sold masks. For a second, he wondered whether it would be weird, but he purchased two of them anyway. Best to keep both of their identities hidden for all the rest of them.

He wasn't exactly thrilled at the idea of having to explain himself while he had no answers himself either.

She was surprised, but smiled warmly at him as he gave her her mask.

"Thank you," she said, accompanied with a small nod.

He smiled back at her as she walked next to him, her hand still tightly in his.

Now that was out of the way, what were they going to do the entire evening?

The firework show didn't start until much later and he felt a bit nervous as he had no plan whatsoever.

Just when he was about to ask her what she wanted to do, she pointed at a stall where you could play a kind of a fishing game.

You had to catch a certain amount of rubber duckies to win something.

"Er… sure," he said, following her to the stall.

He let her go first as she seemed rather enthusiastic about the game.

She lifted the mask a little as she got into position to catch ducks, the tip of her tongue visible as she was focussing on the rubber ducks that moved past.

He thought it was really adorable, until her round was over and she hadn't caught anything.

He tried his best to keep his laughter in, disguising it as a cough as she raised her gaze to him, a slight pout on her face.

"Here," he said, paying the man behind the counter for his turn. "Let me try."

She was watching him intently as he got ready.

He tried not to notice, as he had to concentrate. It would be very lame if he didn't get anything either.

However, as Sora had been persistent on getting him to play a home-version of this game a couple of months ago, he was a little bit more practiced than her at this. He caught the five rubber duckies he needed to get a prize.

"Ha!" he exclaimed in victory as the timer went off, signaling the end of his turn.

He flushed a bright red as he had momentarily forgotten that she was there, too.

Even so, it was hard to beat of the smug look on his face as she seemed hugely impressed.

As the man behind the counter handed over the prize (which was a decent sized teddy bear as they apparently had nothing else left already), he gave it to her.

He couldn't explain the jacket already, he could already see his mother's face if he came home with a bear. Besides, she seemed happy with it.

"Thank you," she said again with a small bow, smiling broadly at him. Another hot rush spread over his cheeks and he gently tapped down her mask again, so it was covering her face again.

"No problem," he said softly.

After that, she wanted to test out some food stalls, which was fine with him.

He hadn't really been able to eat much at home and now the worst of his nerves had passed, he was feeling pretty hungry.

She had ordered too much for herself, though, so he ended up eating most of her portions too.

She had already led the way to another game as he was still eating his dumplings.

He didn't mind watching her; it was entertaining, to say the least. She seemed so excited that he couldn't help but think it was cute.

As she prepared to start the game (she had to hit four targets with small tennis balls), she glanced up at him, almost hesitantly.

He swallowed down his bite and raised his thumb. "Go for it," he said encouragingly.

She smiled brightly as she started.

The woman had to dive away in order not to get hit and he nearly suffocated in his next bite as he almost burst out in laughter. He recovered just before her round ended.

She had already handed over the tennis balls to him in a rather defeated manner.

"Good luck," she said to him. "Thanks," he said with a grin.

He wasn't particularly good at these games either, but he had at least hit two out of four. That wasn't enough, but it was _something_.

"Well, that's too bad," he said to her as he gave the tennis balls back to the woman behind the counter, who seemed extremely relieved that they would be on their way again. "It's getting crowded, though," he added, automatically reaching for her hand again. "Shall we go find a good spot for the fireworks?"

It would be a shame if she had especially wanted to see the fireworks with him and they would miss it completely.

She nodded, her expression hidden behind her mask.

He gave her a soft squeeze as he led the way through the groups of friends, families and couples that obstructed the way.

The plaza, where the firework show would be held, was already slowly filling up, so they picked out one of the benches on the field of grass just in front of the plaza.

He shoved up his mask and glanced at his watch.

"It should start in a bit," he told her as she had followed his movement and shoved up her mask too.

She gave a nod, craning her neck a bit to check on the preparations.

"So," he said, rubbing the back of his neck, almost a bit shy. "Are you having fun so far?"

Her immediate first answer was a huge smile that swept his entire composure off its feet.

"Yes, thank you so much... for coming with me. How about you?" she added, slightly concerned.

It was the longest sentence he had ever heard her speak and he felt his heartbeat pick up the pace as he realized might've been one of the very few to hear her talk for such a long time.

"Yeah, me too," he said, his voice cracking a little bit.

She seemed content with it, however. Now that she apparently seemed in a mood to talk, he was a little bit curious.

There seemed more to her lack of words than just shyness.

"So, um," he said, clearing his throat. "Is there a reason in particular why you don't talk much?"

She tilted her head to the side. "Does it bother you?" she asked quietly.

"N-no, no," he said at once. "I was just wondering."

"I'm…" she started, twiddling her thumbs a bit. "I am practicing. I do want to talk more. To you," she added with a vague gesture. "I… I guess old habits die hard."

"I'm, er… grateful for that," he said, his heart beating somewhere in his throat at that point. "That you want to talk, I mean." He was glad it was getting dark, she wouldn't be able to see his embarrassment on his face.

She smiled at him. "I don't mind talking to you," she continued. "You don't… overwhelm me. Thank you."

He felt a little stupid that he had to ask in the first place; of course it would be something like that.

He could only imagine what the other guys would be like if she spoke to them.

Their admiration of her without her speaking was already very suffocating, or so he could imagine.

The announcer was getting up on the stage, people crowding together towards it.

He was partially grateful for the distraction, as he was still extremely red in the face.

He didn't understand; she hadn't necessarily said anything that could make him blush like that, had she?

Even so, he felt strangely proud that she seemed to feel that much more comfortable with him.

Then, as the announcer left the stage again, the first fireworks reached the sky, screeching loudly as they went.

They stood up too, to get a better look at the sky, now filled with bright colours and smoke.

He tried to say something to her, something along the lines of how pretty it looked, maybe, but the words died in his mouth as he glanced down at her.

The sky was reflected in her wide indigo eyes, a small smile playing on her lips as she gazed up at the night sky.

His heart was racing again and he swallowed thickly, quickly returning his gaze to the sky as well.

He couldn't really concentrate on the fireworks much afterwards; all he could see was that expression on her face that was wrecking his heart at this point.

Just before the firework show was coming to an end, he snapped back to reality as he heard a very familiar voice close by.

"-don't understand, I mean, we had such a nice view earlier! Vanitas! Wait up!"

He quickly shoved his mask back over his face, but it had been partially too late.

Sora, who was making his way through the crowds with his brother, had looked in their direction.

Sora definitely had seen Kairi, judging by the startled expression on his face.

"Van, wait! That's-"

He didn't wait and grabbed Kairi's hand. She glanced up at him, a confused expression on her face.

"Let's head back," he said, leaning closer to her ear so she could hear over the loud sounds of the fireworks exploding in the air. "Before everyone else does. It's still quiet up there."

She gave him a nod and he led the way back to the Clock Tower.

He really didn't want Sora to find out he was here with Kairi. It would spread through the entire school… he didn't even want to think about what would happen next. Absolute chaos, that was for sure.

Soon, he couldn't see the brown haired guy anymore and he let out a sigh of relief as he shoved up his mask, glancing over his shoulder to look at the girl whose hand he was still holding in his.

Her cheeks were a bit pink and she smiled at him as they stopped right in front of the Clock Tower, where they had originally met up earlier that evening.

He let go of her hand at once, strangely self-conscious about himself. She bowed slightly. "Thank you so much… for today," she said warmly.

"No, thank _you_ ," he said quietly.

She smiled. "I'll see you later, then." She was about to turn, but he reached forward and grabbed her hand again.

His heart was pounding in his ears now. "Wait!"

He didn't want her to go yet and he was desperately looking for an excuse to prolong his time with her.

Even so, the firework show had ended and people started to get back up, the loud sounds of chatter and laughter growing near.

"I'll walk you home," he said decidedly, nodding more to himself than to her. That was a good reason to stick to her side a little while longer.

She blinked a couple of times in confusion. "Won't that be... troublesome for you?"

Well, he would have to walk the entire way back to his place.

He wasn't quite sure where she lived either, so it could be a real hassle to get back.

It would be worth the trouble, though. He smiled at her. "No problem at all."

He didn't let go of her hand this time, though there wasn't a crowd to get lost in this time.

There was no excuse anymore for it to be necessary, but as long as she didn't protest, he didn't want to let go.

He had never thought such a feeling would exist.

He wondered whether he should talk to her; she seemed to be content with the silence too.

It wasn't an awkward silence, either. There was just the two of them walking down the lanes and streets, their fingers intertwined, her warmth heating him up on the inside.

They arrived way too soon at her house, which wasn't that far away from his, either, so it seemed.

He was surprisingly disappointed. As she turned to him, he had to force himself to let go of her hand. It felt almost as if he would never be able to take her hand ever again.

"Thank you," she said again, smiling brightly at him. "I had fun."

"Yeah, me too," he said, sad that it was over for real now.

"I'll see you later, then," she said, much softer.

"Yeah. See you at school," he said.

And then, as she gave him one final smile, the pieces fitted together.

The heated redness in his cheeks, his racing heart, the tingles in his stomach whenever he was near, wanting to keep her to himself, the lightheadedness whenever she smiled… he liked her.

He liked her.

He wondered whether he had become just like all the other guys now.

It almost felt as if he wouldn't deserve her anymore if that was the case.

Then again, he thought as he watched her walk up to her front porch, the others _couldn't_ like her like this.

They liked her because she was 'takane no hana'.

He liked her because she was Kairi.

There was a huge difference, at least to him.

She turned to him, waving. He waved back, getting ready to leave when he realized she didn't go inside.

"Go inside!" he told her sternly, but she simply smiled and waved again. He couldn't help himself and smiled back at her in defeat, waving one final time. "I'm leaving now, okay?"

He ran the entire way back to his place to try and get rid of the adrenaline that had been flowing through his system.

He liked her. A lot.

Even though everything started to make sense, there was this newfound feeling of insecurity.

He might be different than the others, but did she like him too? In the same way that he felt about her?

He went straight to his room, closing the door and sliding down with his back against the door, catching his breath, his face still red as he hid it in his hands.

What was he supposed to do now?

-x-

Sora was not in a good mood that Monday. "What are you so moody about?" he inquired, raising his brow.

They were out in the yard again for lunch and he kept glancing up at the roof, waiting for the auburn haired girl to appear there.

That reminded him that he probably shouldn't have asked Sora what he was feeling upset about. He turned out to be quite right.

"I saw Takane-Kairi, I mean, at the Festival," Sora said, toying with his food.

"Oh," he said, a bit uneasy now. "Er… that's nothing to be so cranky about, right?"

Sora shook his head. "That's not the point! She was there with her _boyfriend_."

He choked on his drink. "W-what- I mean, h-how would you know it's her _boyfriend_?" he coughed, trying to catch his breath. "It could've been any other guy-"

" _Roxas_ ," Sora said, giving him a look as if he pitied his friend, which could be because he was choking to death or because he apparently didn't understand some basic love rules. It could be both, too, though. "You should've seen the way she had dressed up. She wouldn't have done that for any other guy."

"R-really?" he said, his heart pounding against his ribcage. He noticed a small figure up on the roof, her short auburn hair moving along with the gentle breeze. As if she had been summoned by their conversation.

He tried not to look as Sora would not be pleased, at all, especially not during this conversation.

"Come on, Roxas," Sora complained. "You wouldn't have gone with any other girl either, would you? If you had gone?"

"I wouldn't," he said quietly.

He hadn't gone with just any other girl.

If any other girl had asked him, he would've refused for sure.

Was it the same for her? Had she specifically asked him because she… liked him too?

He dared a glance up at the roof, where she was standing, silently watching.

Was that what he was supposed to do now? Find out how she felt? He felt a bit fidgety at the thought of that… what if she didn't feel the same way?

He might make things unnecessarily awkward, unless he maybe 'forgot' to mention his own feelings, perhaps.

Then, what if she _did_ feel the same way? He had never dated before and he wasn't quite sure what it meant 'to date'.

The bell rang to end their lunch break and they gathered their stuff as they stood up.

Listening to the almost angry chatter around as they walked back to the entrance, he found out that news spread fast; most guys were absolutely appalled to hear that their 'takane no hana' might be dating someone.

He couldn't imagine the chaos he would plunge practically the entire school in if he might start dating Kairi.

The loud buzz of mostly guys whispering to one another became louder and he turned, just slightly.

She was there, trying to pass the crowd, her gaze steadily down on the ground.

She was really uncomfortable and he sighed slightly.

Wouldn't it be selfish to want to be next to her? The uproar would only increase; there was no way in making her happy like that, was there?

He shook his head, almost as if he had made a decision.

He took a deep breath and was about to follow Sora, who was leading the way through the mass of people when he heard light footsteps following each other rapidly.

"Roxas. Good morning."

He turned around at once, the entire hallway completely silent.

She was standing just behind him, her cheeks flushed as she dared a glance up at him.

He was completely off guard by her sudden…. rather bold action. "Good morning," he finally said, giving her a slight nod of acknowledgment, though he was aware of the whispers that had started to buzz up again.

Then, some became louder.

 _"Why is she greeting him?!"_

 _"That's not fair! Greet me, too, Takane!"_

 _"Me too! Good morning, Takane!"  
_  
Her eyes lit up as he greeted her back, and she gave him a small nod before she brushed past him.

Even so, he swore he could see her smile at him as she passed him.

As he stared at her slowly disappearing form, the masses kind of following her, he met Sora's bewildered expression and realized that he wasn't the only one rather stunned.

"What was _that_?!" Sora said, his voice barely a whisper. He seemed extremely impressed. "She just _talked_ to you!"

"Y-yeah," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "A-Apparently so, huh?"

" _Why_ , though?" Sora said, almost in shock as he stood on his tiptoes to try and catch a glimpse of her. "Why would she _talk_ to you?"

He was started to flush a bright red. "I have no idea," he lied.

Well, it wasn't that he knew exactly why, but part of the reason she had just explained to him. He didn't feel like it was necessary to tell Sora that, though.

"You're red," Sora remarked, still in the bewildered state he was in. "Wait," he suddenly said, stopping in the middle of the hallway, a frown on his face as he waved his hands almost comically in the air. "Wait."

"What?" he said, trying to will the colour off of his face.

" _You_ ," Sora said slowly, pointing at him as he seemed to process some very complicated thought. "Do you like Takan- Kairi?"

He wondered whether he should be honest or not.

He had already kept a lot from his best friend, partially because he couldn't explain it before the Festival and he didn't want to break it to his friend just like that after the Festival.

He decided that he would be honest. Besides, even if he said 'no', his face clearly told something else. "Er… yeah."

"I knew you'd cave in sooner or later," Sora said as he picked up the pace again, grinning slightly. "Welcome to the club."

Of course he would think that way; there seemed to be no guy in this school who hadn't been strangely moved by her, after all.

He could get away with it like that, but he didn't want to. In the end, he really thought that he would betray her somewhat if he did.

"Wait, Sora," he said, trying to keep up with his friend. "It's not like that, I mean… I like, 'like' her."

Sora turned around, raising a brow. "What makes you think that we don't?"

"I mean... I'm in _love_ with her," he said almost in a hiss, so nobody else could hear him. He felt as if his head would explode at this point and started to question why he wanted Sora to know the truth after all.

"Oh," Sora said, frowning as he seemed to think about it. "Oh." Sora then narrowed his eyes. "This is not the first time she's spoken to you, is it?"

He shook his head after some thought. Best to keep things as honest as he could from now on. "Please don't tell anyone," he added pleadingly. "It'll only give her trouble."

Sora crossed his arms as he tilted his head to the side, deep in thought. "Hmm."

"Sora?"

"Are you two dating?" he then inquired.

"What, no," he said, a bit startled. "I don't know if she likes me back or not."

"Well," Sora said after a few minutes of silence, in which he had started to drag his friend along because they would be late for classes otherwise. "You know, it's kinda mean, I think, that you got ahead of the rest without telling anyone," he continued pointedly. "But it's you, so I guess I'll forgive you."

"Yeah, thank you _so_ much," he said, raising a brow. "Also, I didn't mean to. It just kind of… happened."

"If I have to lose to anyone," Sora said, ignoring his blonde friend. "I'd rather lose to you, if I'm honest. I'll support you," he finally said, giving him the thumbs up.

He groaned. "Don't do anything unnecessary or extremely stupid, please."

"What?" Sora said indignantly. "Of course I wouldn't! I just want to help you beat that guy that was with her at the Festival, really."

"Yeah," he said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "About that..."

Sora's jaw dropped and he was sure he could almost hear it break. "What?! Don't tell me-"

"It was me," he admitted finally in a whisper. "Now shut up before anyone else hears! Sora, I really don't-"

Sora, however, was no longer in the land of the living and he shook his friend by his shoulders to try and get him to snap back into his empty body.

"Sora!"

"You've betrayed me," Sora finally said as he had sat his baffled friend down on his chair. "How could you!"

"I didn't know what to do," he said sheepishly. "I only figured it out myself after I walked her home, and I couldn't just-"

"You've _walked her home_?!"

"Keep your voice down! I'm starting to regret I told you," he added grumpily.

Sora, to his surprise, suddenly grinned widely. "Oh man, I never thought I'd see _you_ flustered, of all people."

"Don't laugh at me!"

"Didn't I say already," Sora said easily. "I support you. I'm just messing with you. Even though I am just a teeny tiny bit hurt," he added, raising a brow as he held his thumb and index finger a few inches apart to indicate how much hurt he was.

"I'm sorry," he apologized, laughing a little in relief.

"Good," Sora said with another grin. "Now, let's go to the rooftop after school, then-"

"Absolutely not," he deadpanned. "Don't do anything unnecessary or stupid, remember? I want to be able to do this on my own."

"Fine," Sora said with a defeated pout. "Do things your way. Talk to me again next year when you've finally made a move or something."

The teacher had come into the classroom, so he hurried to his own seat after giving Sora a whack against his head for good measure.

As he sat down on his chair, he felt strangely light.

Telling Sora had been a huge relief, after all.

Even though he appreciated the fact that his friend wanted to help, he truly wanted to work hard by himself to earn her love. She was worth at least that much.

Besides, he had already come so far by himself, he needed to continue down this road by himself (and maybe with her).

He had no clue what dating meant, wasn't sure what was expected of him, but one thing he knew for sure: he was not going to let her go.

-x-

It had sounded so good in his head… about 'not letting her go'.

He had no idea how to reach that goal for real.

Ever since she had greeted him, people were watching him with suspicious glares, almost surrounding her completely as if to keep her out of his sight. It was ridiculous.

It had been days since she had greeted him in the hallway and he hadn't spoken to her ever since.

He probably should've asked her phone number to begin with. He felt stupid.

Today was just the same: he could only catch a glimpse of her auburn hair.

"What's wrong with those people?" Sora commented with a sigh, shaking his head.

He raised his brow. "I thought you always referred to them as 'we'? Doesn't that make you part of them?"

"What, no!" Sora said at once, grinning. "I've always shipped the two of you."

"What?" he said, now utterly confused. "Sorry, you what?"

"Yeah, never mind," Sora said, slapping him on his back. "Wait, what's happening?"

The mass suddenly separated and at first, he felt a bit relieved to be able to finally see her again, but the sight of her startled expression immediately set off all the alarm bells in his head.

A guy approached her and bowed slightly to her. "Takane, I've liked you since the first day I saw you! Please go out with me!"

He could feel a scowl form on his face as he crossed his arms. Sora started to bounce a little on his feet in uneasiness. "Oh boy," he muttered. "This isn't good, this isn't good. Now everyone's gonna-"

Kairi shook her head, bowed back and he could hear her voice clear as day. "I'm sorry."

This, however, seemed to be the starting sign for all the rest, as Sora had predicted.

He watched in disbelief as other guys pushed the just rejected guy out of the way and started declaring their so-called 'love' to her too.

He had to admit that he admired Kairi for how she handled things.

She was very consequent in her response: she would shake her head, give a polite bow back and would reject them right away.

Even so, he could see that she was very uncomfortable.

During the transition, in which the rejected guy was pushed away, she glanced up and met his gaze.

It was almost as if she was begging him to move. To do something. Anything.

As always, he responded almost automatically. He wasn't even aware of him taking a couple of steps forward.

"Hey, stop it! You're making her uncomfortable."

Sora was getting nervous behind him, he could tell.

If looks could kill, he'd be killed, brought back to life to be killed a hundred times over again.

 _"Stay out of this!"  
_  
 _"Yeah, get lost! You don't even like her anyway!"_

He took a deep breath and walked up to her, her wide indigo eyes following his every move.

His heart was hammering against his ribcage like crazy and he had no idea why he was doing this, but now that she had set something in motion inside of him, he just kept moving.

"Kairi," he finally said as he was in front of her, bowing slightly. "Please go out with me."

His heart pounded in his head, a rush of redness quick to spread over his face and neck as he balled his hands to fists, pressing them against the sides of his thigh.

He dared to glance up, quite sure that she would repeat the same pattern.

She _nodded_. 

"Please take care of me," she said quietly with a smile.

The hallway exploded as he stared at her, almost in disbelief.

 _"What?! No way!"  
_  
 _"What did she say?! This can't be right!"  
_  
 _"Why him?!"  
_  
He straightened himself, now facing the rest of the crowd.

"You better leave my girlfriend alone," he said, surprisingly confident, lightheaded at the feeling of her saying 'yes' to him. "Don't make her feel uncomfortable or you'll have to face me."

The crowd dispensed with loud mutters and angry glares his way, but Kairi was beaming as she gently reached out to tug at his sleeve, making him look at her again.

"Thank you."

"You're very welcome," he said, now a bit nervous as his confidence dropped in front of her.

She, however, didn't seem to mind at all as she reached up with both hands to touch his cheeks, give him one final smile before she let go of him and quickly hurried to her lesson.

He hadn't even heard the bell ring.

Hell, he didn't even feel Sora grab his arm and drag him off.

He stumbled along with him, his gaze on the disappearing form of the girl he had just asked out.

Who had just said 'yes'.

Who he started to date.

"Sora," he finally croaked as she turned around to glance at him one last time before she turned the corner. "Did I just ask her out?"

"You sure did," Sora hummed.

"Did she really just say 'please take care of me'?"

"She sure did," Sora said, glancing rather concernedly at his friend. "So you'd better do that, all right?"

"Yeah," he mumbled, rather dazed. "Yeah, I'll do that."

Sora then started to laugh. "You really are a weird one, you know that?"

He didn't listen; he was too busy replaying the moment in his head.

Her nod. Her 'please take care of me'. Her smile. Her hands on his cheeks.

He couldn't beat the grin off his face for the rest of the day.

-x-

She was waiting for him after his practice, having pulled up her hood as to draw less attention to her.

That was a rather smart move, but he recognised her anyway. Luckily, he might add. He might've walked past her and not knowing he did.

"Kairi," he said as he joined her. "Didn't you go home already?"

"I waited for you," she said quietly, a bit fidgety. "I… wanted to see you."

He glanced behind him, where he had left Sora standing in the doorway.

His friend gave him a thumbs up before he waved. He would be on his own with her.

The butterflies in his stomach almost started to rage at that thought.

"I… er… I'll walk you home," he finally said.

She nodded and he, almost shyly, took her hand in his.

It felt good to have her warm slim fingers intertwined with his again.

He realised it had been too long ago since he last held her hand; it was almost a relief to be finally able to do that again, without having to be afraid to be seen.

"Say," he said, as it bugged him a little. "I… I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. Earlier, I mean."

She shook her head, smiling at him, squeezing back slightly.

He smiled back. "All right, then," he said. "That's good."

It was enough, to be walking side to side, neither of them saying something even though they were still connected by their hands.

He adjusted his pace to hers, and he noticed that she was going a little slower every once in a while.

A bubble of warm happiness formed in his chest when he realised she might not want this to end either.

Even so, he recognised the area where they had walked to and he knew they were close.

"So," he said as she slowed down even more.

He smiled a bit, but he knew that they really would reach her place soon enough, no matter how slow she wanted to go. "I… I will walk you home tomorrow too, all right?"

She glanced up at him and nodded, smiling back.

"If you want, I can walk you home every day," he continued, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. "I do have practice three times a week, so you might have to wait on some days, but-"

"I don't mind," she said, interrupting him. "I'll wait."

"Great," he breathed out as he unconsciously squeezed her hand a little. "I'm glad."

They had reached her house and she turned to him, her hand still locked in his. Even though he would have to let go of her, he'd rather postpone it just a little while longer.

She was looking up expectantly at him, tilting her head to the side. He cleared his throat and tried to keep his head cool, but he could already feel the heat rush up to his face.

"I, er…" he said, stammering a little. "I have… er… I've never, well, dated before," he admitted sheepishly to her. "I… don't really know-"

She shook her head, smiling up at him. "That's okay. It's the same… for me."

He felt strangely relieved at that. "Is that so? I see…"

She glanced down at their intertwined fingers and squeezed his hand slightly. "So… should we try this out together? See… what it's like?"

"I'd like that," he said quietly, giving in to the blush spreading over his face. There was no way he could stop that either.

She smiled again, gazing back at him and with a pang of regret in his chest, he realised they would have to separate for now.

He swallowed and nodded once, more to himself than to her as he let go of her hand. "I… I'll see you at school, tomorrow, then?"

She nodded, folding her hands behind her back.

"Let's not repeat what happened at the Festival," he said, smiling slightly. "Just go inside. You don't have to stay outside and watch me leave, you know."

She giggled, and it was the cutest thing he had ever heard. "Just go, then."

He grinned, gave her a small wave as he almost stumbled backwards. "See you tomorrow!"

In the end, she did stay outside and watched him until she could no longer see him. In the end, he didn't really mind either, keeping turning and waving at her until he had finally turned the corner of her street.

-x-

They had already reached her house; it was almost as if it kept creeping closer to the school with every day that passed.

Even so, there was still tomorrow, and the day after, to walk her home, to spend time with her.

It had been months since they had started 'dating', and it had so far been strangely wonderful.

He was one of the most hated persons in the school, but he didn't really care as long as she wanted him.

After he had finished practice this Friday and said Sora goodbye, he had met up with her.

It was getting colder, their breaths were visible and he was quite thankful that he got to hold her hand, as the warmth was even more welcome than usual.

He started to fear that it would become time to wear gloves soon enough and then it wouldn't be the same anymore.

As she had let go of his hand to find her keys, he had stuffed his hands in his pocket for warmth as she reached inside of her bag for her keys, frowning and the tip of her tongue visible as she searched for it.

"You don't have that many things in your bag for a girl," he remarked as he chuckled a little. "And even so, you can never find anything."

She smiled at him. "Things get lost in a lot of empty space."

"I'd believe it would," he said, reaching out to take over her bag to hold it open for her. "Here."

"Thank you."

She finally found her keys, the set jingling as she pulled them out of her bag.

"I'm kinda curious, though," he said as she took over her bag. "Why do you carry so few things with you?"

She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "I used to take… more things with me," she said thoughtfully. "But they got… lost and then classmates would find them…" she shifted her weight a little as she sighed. "They wanted something… in exchange. So I stopped… bringing unnecessary stuff."

He felt sorry for her. As he had thought when he first saw her, she really didn't enjoy any of the overwhelming attention she got.

Almost automatically, he reached out to touch her hair. It was softer than he had imagined to be, and it distracted him from what he originally wanted to say.

He only remembered again when he had slid his hand down her hair to her neck. "If it happens to you again, you'll just have to tell me," he said to her, smiling slightly. "It won't happen ever again then, I'll promise you."

She smiled back, touching his hand with her fingertips. "Thank you."

The way she was looking up at him reminded him of the Festival. "So, do… do you want to hang out with me this Sunday?" he asked her, rather spontaneously.

He even surprised himself a little, which he often did when it came to her, he noticed.

Her face lit up. "Really?"

"If you want," he said, laughing a bit at her delight. He had no idea he was capable of making someone as happy as she was at these occasions.

"Yes, please," she said brightly, suddenly standing on her tiptoes to give him a kiss on his cheek. Then, she gave him another bright smile before she turned and ran up to her front door.

"Go home," she said to him as she turned back to him a bit. "It's cold!"

"I know," he said, slightly dazed as he put his hands in his pocket again, smiling at her. "Go inside, then."

She bounced a bit on her feet to keep warm. "You'll freeze!"

"See you Sunday, then," he said, waving at her. "I'll call you!"

She waved back at him as she opened the door and went in. He walked backwards, watching the door close behind her before he finally turned around and walked normally again.

At school, they still didn't talk much.

If he was honest, he still rather kept her smiles and her soft voice to himself, especially now that she had started to talk more.

Besides, he thought it was important for the both of them that she still kept hanging out with Olette and that he kept hanging out with Sora during school hours.

Afterwards, however, he was all hers and she was all his. It was a wonderful thing, much to his surprise. Even though that was the case, he kept glancing at her every now and then if he caught a glimpse of her.

They'd greet each other when they passed in the hallways. He'd still catch her watching him on top of the roof.

Even if they were apart, she was more than frequently on his mind. He didn't ever want this to be over.

He couldn't even imagine being done with her.

He thought he had fallen in love with her before, but he kept falling and falling with each day that passed.

He couldn't help but start to fear for the day he'd hit the ground.

-x-

He had trouble concentrating on the movie, as the dim light of the room, the irregular flickers of the movie playing on the screen created strange shadows and illuminated areas on her face that were equally, if not, more interesting to watch.

She was completely absorbed by the movie, hugging the pillow tight as her eyes followed the action on screen.

He knew she didn't like cliffhangers, so just to tease her a little, he paused the movie right before the plot twist of the movie.

He felt slightly grateful now that Sora had spoiled the entire movie for him months ago.

She gasped almost comically as she snapped back to reality, glancing up at him with wide eyes. He couldn't help but laugh a little. "What? Break time," he said as he stood up. "Just like the cinema."

Her expression softened as she gently put the pillow down. "Right. Very important."

He came back with their drinks and popcorn.

Again, he was grateful that Sora had given him the popcorn maker three years ago.

Back then, he had been rather skeptical as he thought it was an useless thing, at which Sora responded defensively that one day, he would come to thank him for that 'useless thing'. That day seemed to have finally come.

She nodded slightly as she smiled at him. "Impressive. Very cinema-like."

He shrugged as he put it down on the small table in front of them. "Well, I felt stupid for not being able to afford two tickets for a movie, so I had to be creative."

"I see," she said quietly, the warm smile still gracing her lips as he sat down. She shyly moved his way a bit and he let her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and tugging her towards him. She flushed pink a little bit, but he was quite proud that he had mastered his own blushes.

He leaned forward a bit to get his drink when Kairi moved a bit in his embrace. "Say, Roxas," she said softly.

"Yeah?"

"I heard this person talk at school… he said that the only thing that was good… about me," she said hesitantly. She seemed having trouble getting the words across and he automatically frowned a bit in worry. "The only good thing would be that I was… Takane. He said that… now that I was… approachable in the end…. there was nothing else good… about me."

He put down his drink very carefully. "Oh?" He kind of expected her next question at that point.

"Do you feel that way?" she finally asked, looking up at him.

She was looking so vulnerable that he could feel his heart throb for her and at the same time made him feel happy that she could be so vulnerable around him.

He smiled at her, running his hand through her hair. "Well, that's an easy question," he said quietly. "You were never that whole 'takane no hana' thing to me to begin with, you know. I saw that nickname as the stupid thing, really."

"So," she said softly, tilting her head a little. "What is good about me, then?"

"Did you want to finish this movie today?" he asked her a bit jokingly. "Or do you really want to hear this first and postpone the movie to somewhere next year, maybe?"

" _Stop_ ," she said, now laughing a little, giving him a very, very gentle push in his side. "Don't exaggerate."

"So you want it short then?" he said, smiling at her as she relaxed against him. "Well, you're adorable, you're kind, you're funny, sweet, way too good for your own good and you suck at party games, which I think is kind of cute."

"Do you think I'm pretty?" She was testing him, he could see it in the playful twinkle in her eyes.

He grinned. "Pretty? Haven't really looked at you that way before, I think."

She giggled, nuzzling up against his chest. "I see."

He kissed the top of her head. "Don't be silly. Of course you're pretty. Now, are you ready for the plot-"

"No, no, no," she said, her usually quiet voice a bit louder as she jumped further into his arms to press her hands against his mouth. "Don't say it, don't say it! Don't spoil it!"

He laughed, gently removing her hands from his mouth. "But you might want to hear it when I tell you that his brother is-"

"Nooo!"

-x-

It had been crowded at the Summer festival, so they had gone back to his place to watch the Fireworks from the attic.

Huddled together in front of the window, she was leaning against him and he was thoughtlessly running his hand through her hair as they watched the red, blue and green sparkles in the sky, the loud screeches slightly less loud because they were further away.

"Hey," he said, diverting his attention to her hair as he suddenly realised something. "Your hair is getting longer."

She flushed, which surprised him. In the flickering lights of the fireworks outside, it almost seemed as if she was glowing. "R-really?"

"Yeah," he said, following the longest strand to the back of her neck. "It reaches up until your shoulders now."

"You don't like it?"

He tilted his head, running his fingers through her hair again. "On the contrary, actually. It looks really good on you, too."

She smiled a bit. "Can you believe I once had my hair this long?" she said, pointing to her lower back.

"Seriously?" he said in disbelief. "Why did you cut it off?"

She shrugged and leaned further into him. "I thought it'd help… with the attention, because usually guys and girls prefer… well, longer hair."

"Oh," he said distractedly. He had always thought it was remarkable that she had such short hair and never really questioned it up until now. He had always thought the short hair suited her, but the long hair had this strangely elegant look on her too. It worked both ways for him, but he thought it was rather sad that it was yet another thing she had tried to stop people from overwhelming her. "I like it both ways."

"I'm glad," she said, looking up at him. "I think I'll let it grow long again. It'll be fun to do something special with my hair every time we go out."

"If it makes you uncomfortable-"

She shook her head, gently resting her fingertips on his mouth. "I don't care anymore," she said softly. "I can withstand all of it as long as you're around. I want _you_ to overwhelm me."

As she smiled at him, withdrawing her fingertips, he leaned forward.

Again, as it usually went, she had set something in motion inside of him, and he just followed through.

Very, very carefully, he gently pressed his lips against hers.

She might have been expecting it as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. Her lips were soft and tasted remarkably of cherries and he felt his heart hammer against his ribcage in response to having her so close to him.

He wrapped his arms around her waist, tugging her closer. Then, though, he couldn't help it, he sneaked his right hand up in her hair. He really did like it now that it was longer. She smiled against his kiss.

He pulled away, feeling strangely moved by having her so close to him, the flickering lights playing on her features as she smiled up at him.

Everything that tumbled out of his mouth hadn't occurred that much before, but he meant them anyway.

"When we're done with college in a couple of years or so," he said quietly. "I'll work hard and become steady so we can become a family."

She blinked twice, suddenly as red as her hair. "Did… did you just p-propose?"

His brain started to keep up with what he just said and he became even redder, feeling the heat run all the way down to his toes. "Er… yes, but not like this!" he quickly added. "Just… be prepared for it. When it comes. Later. In a few years."

She beamed at him and nodded before she stood on her tiptoes to give him a soft kiss.

The fireworks kept on screeching upwards to the sky, exploding in a million tiny flickers of blue and green, red and white, but they were lost on the two of them as they were too preoccupied with each other.

Her hands were tugging at his shirt to keep him close, one of his hands had her leg wrapped around his waist, the other hand tangled in her hair.

She had definitely lost her strange nickname takane no hana, but she had gained a place to belong with him.

A safe place where she was for once cherished for who she was instead of her looks.

 _She had finally become the butterfly._

 _\- the end -_

 **Author's note**

 **Happy new year! It's a bit late, I know. Couldn't finish this early as this year sure started just fabulously with a ton of work, haha. Ah, anyway, in case you wonder where this is coming from, I'm trying to keep my new year's resolution to upload something every month, whether it's an one-shot (like this was supposed to be, but it turned out a bit long, as usual) or part of an old or new series.**

 **So, this one I started writing on pretty recently, I guess. I read the manga hibi chouchou and damn, Kawasumi really reminds me of Roxas sometimes. It's the blonde hair, maybe.**

 **I hope you like it; it's not really special or whatever, it's just a lot of fluff and hopefully as cute as I hoped it would be.**

 **Hoping you are doing absolutely marvellous these days :)**

 **Lots of love,**

 **Your author,**

 **PrincessM**


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